A former police superintendent who stands charged with accepting protection money from men who organised a clandestine lotto had his human rights breached because he did not have access to a lawyer.

Patrick Spiteri, 55, from Fgura, is facing charges for allegedly accepting €233 a month for more than six years from the men, whom he informed of police raids before they happened.

Mr Spiteri resigned from the police force when he was arrested in June 2006, after 27 years of service.

He is pleading not guilty to accepting bribes to exercise his influence on decisions taken by the police between 2000 and 2006.

He is also charged with extortion, abusing his authority, disclosing official secrets and committing crimes he was in duty bound to prevent.

Defence lawyers had asked the court to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court, claiming their client’s human rights had been breached because he did not have access to a lawyer prior to his interrogation.

Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, sitting in the Constitutional Court, found that the fact that Mr Spiteri was did not have access to a lawyer breached these rights.

The court heard that Mr Spiteri released a statement to the police on June 23, 2006, in which he admitted to receiving protection money along with a detailed explanation on the matter. This eight-page statement was very detailed.

Before the Constitutional Court, Mr Spiteri argued that the testimonies of the highest police authorities was all based on what he had told them during the various interrogations, without having consulted a lawyer on the matter.

Mr Justice Mallia upheld the complaint and ruled that the two statements were in breach of Mr Spiteri’s human rights.

He also declared that the testimonies of Police Commissioner John Rizzo, that of deputy Commissioner Joe Cachia, Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar and police inspectors Angelo Gafa and Ian Abdilla were all in breach of his human right insofar as they referred to what he could have told them during the investigations.

Mr Rizzo had told the court that Mr Spiteri was called in for questioning at his office and, in the presence of Deputy Commissioner Cachia, he admitted that he had received about €233 a month in total as protection money, from different people who organised the clandestine lotto.

In exchange, he was to tell them of any planned police raids.

Mr Justice Mallia sent the acts of the proceedings back to the Criminal Court for the case to continue and for the magistrate to decide what to do with the statement that Mr Spiteri had given to the police and the police testimonies in question.